N'Zoth's Battlecry summons a copy of each friendly Deathrattle minion that has died that game. If there is not enough room on the board to summon a copy of each, N'Zoth will randomly choose which ones to summon.[1]

N'Zoth will not summon minions which were granted Deathrattle through effects such as Explorer's Hat or Unearthed Raptor. The minion must innately have a Deathrattle.[2]

N'Zoth will summon minions with Deathrattle on their card text that were Silenced.[2]

N'Zoth will only summon minions which died, not those which were transformed or otherwise removed from play.[2]

As with all resurrection effects, the copies summoned by N'Zoth are summoned in their base state, at full Health and without any enchantments the original minion had when they died. As a result, copies summoned by Herald Volazj or Barnes which then die and are resummoned by N'Zoth will appear with their full stats.[4]

Minions that leave the graveyard when they die, such as Malorne, can still be summoned by N'Zoth. If the same such minion dies multiple times, it can be summoned that many times by N'Zoth.[5]

N'Zoth will attempt to summon a copy of each Deathrattle minion that died, even if the minion was 'resummoned' by effects like Reincarnate. Similarly, N'Zoth will attempt to summon one Dreadsteed for each time a friendly Dreadsteed has died that game.[6]

N'Zoth is a build-around for Deathrattle decks, using the Old God's Battlecry effect as a board control-stealing win condition, similar to Anyfin Can Happen or a post-throwdown Kel'Thuzad. Due to the limited space in which to resurrect minions, N'Zoth decks often focus on a small number of powerful Deathrattle minions, rather than a large number of weaker ones. Resurrecting even one or two powerful minions such as Tirion or Sylvanas can turn the game around. Tirion Fordring in particular makes N'Zoth Paladin a popular choice.

When building a N'Zoth control deck, it is important not to overburden your deck with too many big Deathrattle minions, as that would leave you extremely vulnerable to aggressive decks in the meta. A way to mitigate this is to pack cards such as Infested Tauren and Chillmaw which can be used to defend your hero. Chillmaw is sometimes overlooked but it is a potent Taunt Deathrattle minion that can be used in Wild format N'Zoth decks. In this case, you would generally not be playing it for the Dragon synergy.

N'Zoth's Battlecry is tricky to work around, as even Silencing the Deathrattle minions will not prevent them from being resurrected. If you suspect that your opponent is preparing to play N'Zoth, you can avoid destroying powerful Deathrattle minions while they are on the enemy side of the board by using mind control effects to take control of them, or using effects that remove the minions from play without destroying them, such as Entomb, Polymorph and Hex.

A board clear such as Brawl and Flamestrike can help in answering N'Zoth and the minions he summons, although you will still have to deal with their Deathrattle effects afterwards. If you know your opponent is likely to play N'Zoth, avoid using board clears until he is used.

As with any minion with a strong Battlecry, a possible counter is Dirty Rat, which can force an enemy N'Zoth onto the battlefield without activating its Battlecry.

N'Zoth is notable as the one Old God which has not previously been revealed in any form in World of Warcraft or other media. Little is therefore known of the form, powers and details of N'Zoth.

While the character is long established in Warcraft lore, this is the first time it has been depicted, revealed or even described in detail, making it in a sense original to Hearthstone.[7][8] Its full art was intentionally revealed to players in advance of the card itself, providing a first ever glimpse of the elusive horror.[7]

The Hearthstone team collaborated "a lot" with the Warcraft lore developers when conceiving N'Zoth,[9] and the artist for the card, Tyson Murphy, is lead character artist for World of Warcraft. While the card itself is part of the game of Hearthstone, the art for N'Zoth is intended to be canonical.[10]

During the days of the Black Empire, N'Zoth controlled a vast territory in the east of Kalimdor, covering much of what would later become known as the Eastern Kingdoms. Countless ages ago, Warlord Zon'ozz and his soldiers waged endless war in the name of N'Zoth against the forces of C'Thun and Yogg-Saron. N'Zoth was the first of the Old Gods to be sealed beneath the surface of Azeroth by the titan-forged after Y'Shaarj's death, though it is not known exactly where (only that its bastion was located somewhat southeast of the Well of Eternity).

Very little is certain about N’Zoth (pronounced nuh-ZAH-th)—most beings on Azeroth don’t even know its name, much less what it looks like. Scraps of obscure lore claim that the Old God has been imprisoned beneath the darkest depths of the ocean for millennia beyond counting. There are also whispers that N’Zoth desires nothing more than to twist what was once noble and pure to its own inscrutable ends. Ultimately, most of what is “known” about this most insidious of beings is mere speculation.

Still, looking at the evidence, it seems like N’Zoth feels a compulsive need to redecorate, and has the aesthetic sensibilities of someone that’s super into skulls, black leather, and knee high platform boots. Emerald Dream? How about Emerald Nightmare. Neltharion the Earth Warder? Nah, let’s go with DEATHWING THE DESTROYER! Prissy Night Elf nobility throwing a hissy fit? BAM! You get a snake body and actual hissing! Yes, it’s rumored that N’Zoth was involved with twisting the Emerald Dream, corrupting one of Azeroth’s most powerful dragons, and mutating the Highborne into the despicable Naga . . . but it’s just getting started.[11]

N'Zoth "embraces chaos", as reflected by the randomness of his Battlecry effect.[1] Despite some confusion from other sources, in Hearthstone lore, while Yogg-Saron "opened the door when it corrupted Vordrassil", it was "not the only Old God at work in the Emerald Dream".[12]

Earlier iterations of N'Zoth included a version that replaced the entire player's deck at the start of the game with "30 tentacle cards".[13]

N'Zoth limits the design for future Deathrattle cards, due to his synergy with them, requiring the designers to "[not] put a lot of good Deathrattles out for a while". The designers have discussed the possibilities of creating some N'Zoth counter-play cards if the card becomes too dominant or stale.[13]

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